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The Kennel and Dog Noise Regulation Committee held weekly meetings during January, February and March 2003 to complete its drafting of proposed by-laws for the regulation and operation of animal kennels and dog barking noise. During this drafting process, the Committee continued to refer to relevant statutes and by-laws of Belmont and other Massachusetts cities and towns, and received input from the Municipal Law Unit of the Office of The Attorney General, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Town Counsel, the Town's Animal Control
Officer/Animal Inspector, the Board of Health, and the Director of the Health Department.
After numerous public meetings, the Committee presented its draft of the proposed by-laws at a well-attended public hearing on April 9, 2003, and to the Selectmen and to the By-Law Review Committee; and then formally presented the by-laws for the consideration of the Annual Town Meeting.
The two by-law provisions presented to the Annual Town Meeting were, first, an amendment to the existing Personal Property and Safety By-Law ~relative to dog barking, which raised fines for multiple offenses; and second, a newly crafted Kennel By-Law which includes provisions for licensing and inspections, a maximum limit 25 boarding dogs on the premises, and a requirement that the operations of the kennel, including the exercising of dogs, shall be in an indoor enclosed area, except that individual dogs may be exercised one at a time in a prescribed outdoor area.
The amendment raising fines for dog barking violations was unanimously passed by Town Meeting on April 28, 2003. ~The new Kennel By-Law was passed by Town Meeting on May 5, 2003 by a vote of 154 to 58.
The committee was then dissolved by the Selectmen, as its work was successfully completed. ~ However, in June, 2003, the kennel's owners filed a petition with the town requesting a referendum vote on the Kennel By-Law. ~The referendum, held on August 11, 2003, supported the by-law by a vote of 2083 to 426.
The Town then submitted the by-law to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, which approved the by-law in its entirety and denied the kennel's challenge to the by-law. ~The kennel then applied for a kennel license with the Town; and also filed suit against the Town and requested an injunction against the by-law taking effect, which was denied by the Middlesex Superior Court.
On January 5, 2004, the Board of Selectmen issued a license to the kennel. ~The by-law will be enforced by the Town's Animal Control Officer and Police Department.
Respectfully submitted,
Judith Ananian Sarno, Chairman
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